SINGAPORE - Training has concluded at the Hougang Stadium on a Good Friday holiday, but Cheetahs' forward Tomoyuki Doi is still rifling shots into the goal as his teammates trudge off the field.
The 23-year-old Japanese hitman keeps at his task, firing shots into the back and corners of the net.
Perfecting his craft is a habit Doi, from Hyogo prefecture, has carried over to Singapore. And this dogged pursuit is why he is currently top of the scoring charts of the Singapore Premier League, with four goals in three games. He also has two assists to his name.
"I am never satisfied with myself. Because my father and mother always tell me that I must always improve," said the 1.79m forward who tries to model his game after Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez.
"My mother always texts me after my matches and tells me I can do much more and even in matches that I score, my father points out to me that I could have scored more."
Doi is not one to shy away from spelling out his personal targets either.
Last season, he won the SPL title with Albirex Niigata and finished the season as the Japanese side's top scorer with 11 goals, but lost out in the golden boot race to Lion City Sailors' Stipe Plazibat (14).
He was also beaten to the player of year gong by another Sailor, Gabriel Quak.
This season, he wants both individual honours. To achieve that, he has set himself a target of scoring on average, a goal each game with his new team. Doing this, he says, will allow him to score the ultimate goal- a stint in the J-League back home.
Doi is working on improving his conversion rate. Last season, he attempted 83 shots, 35 more than the second on the list- Balestier Khalsa's Kristijan Krajcek. And of the 83 shots, Doi steered 43 of them on target, finding the back of the net 11 times.
In comparison, Plazibat netted 14 goals from 18 shots on target.
"Of course one day I want to do that (play in the J-League)," said Doi, who learned English from watching YouTube when in Japan and speaks confidently now.
"I have the confidence to play there but I know I have to be a top scorer here first before I can go and play in Japan. If I get top scorer or player of the year, it is the minimum that is needed for me to be noticed there.
"And if I improve every day in training and keep finding the target, I am sure the goals will arrive."
A brace in his last outing on March 20 saw Hougang clinch an impressive 3-1 victory over title favourites Lion City Sailors. The Cheetahs will be counting on him to beat another title contender when they host the Tampines Rovers at the Hougang Stadium on Saturday (April 3).
Hougang assistant coach Firdaus Kassim said: "We knew about his qualities from last season. His mentality on the pitch and he is always all about wanting to score. At times he overlooks players in better positions but then again, his mindset in just being focused on scoring is a trait of all good strikers."
Tampines, who have started their season with two wins and a draw in their first three games, will go into the tie wary of their opponents' form as well as last season's encounters. Last year, Hougang beat the Stags 2-1 but Tampines bounced back in the return fixture, winning 2-0.
Said Stags head coach Gavin Lee: "Regardless of their last result, I have always thought that Hougang are a strong side with plenty of talent in their squad. We are aware of their individual abilities but as a team, we do know that they are really strong on the break. We have seen that last season and we will look to learn from what we experienced against them.
"Our job is to impose our style of play on the game right from kick-off."
